Swedish pop group ABBA asked former President Donald Trump to not play its music at his rallies anymore, multiple outlets reported Thursday—joining a number of other artists who have told the former president to stop playing their hits.
Trump reportedly played two of the Swedish pop group’s songs at a July rally in Minnesota.
TT News Agency/AFP via Getty Images
Key Takeaways
- ABBA’s record label, Universal Music, told Reuters on Thursday no permission or license had been given to the Trump campaign and it requested the campaign immediately take down videos that have been released in which ABBA’s music was being played at Trump events.
- The complaint came after a Swedish newspaper reported Trump’s team played ABBA’s “The Winner Takes It All” and “Money, Money, Money” at a July 27 rally in Minnesota.
- The Trump campaign denied it had no rights, telling Forbes in a statement it “had a license to play ABBA music through our agreement with BMI and ASCAP,” two music licensing groups.
- Forbes has reached out to Universal Music and representatives for members of ABBA for comment.
Who Else Has Told Trump To Not Use Their Music?
Last Friday, the Foo Fighters said on social media they did not give Trump permission to play “My Hero”—which he played at his rally in Phoenix when welcoming Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Earlier this month, Celine Dion’s label, Sony Music Entertainment Canada, issued a statement after Trump played a video at a rally in Montana of Dion performing “My Heart Will Go On.”
The statement said “in no way is this use authorized, and Celine Dion does not endorse this or any similar use.” The family of late singer Isaac Hayes said on X, formerly known as Twitter, it was suing the Trump campaign “for 134 counts of copyright infringement for the unauthorized use of the song ‘Hold On I’m Coming’ at campaign rallies from 2022-2024.”
The Smiths’ guitarist Johnny Marr, Sinéad O’Connor’s estate, Adele, Queen, The White Stripes, Elton John and The Beatles have all opposed the use of their music at Trump rallies, too.
Contra
The Trump campaign has pushed back on at least one other musician’s claim that it didn’t have permission to use their material. Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung told The Hill this week the campaign had rights to the song “My Hero” and called out the Foo Fighters on X for saying they didn’t.
Key Background
Politicians’ use of copyrighted music at campaign events is a contested issue as most take place in large venues that often have “public performance” music licenses, Pitchfork reported after similar issues arose between Trump and musicians in 2016.
Those licenses are often with organizations like the American Society of Composers, Authors & Publishers or Broadcast Music, Inc. and allow campaigns to use millions of songs, though according to Pitchfork, campaigns also typically purchase their own license to ensure they can use the music where they need to and avoid running into licensing issues.
Even if a campaign has a public performance license, it can still be sued by the artist using “right of publicity” laws, which are supposed to protect a public person’s image, according to an ASCAP guide to using music in campaigns. Artists can use arguments based on the Lanham Act, which “covers confusion or dilution of a trademark” through unauthorized use, or false endorsement principles to sue, too.
This article was originally published on forbes.com.
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